Contents
- Blood clotting disorders – definition
- Types of blood coagulation disorders
- Causes and types of bleeding disorders
- Symptoms of blood coagulation disorders
- Diagnosis of blood coagulation disorders
- Treatment of blood coagulation disorders
- Blood coagulation disorders and hypercoagulability
- What are the complications of blood clotting disorders?
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Blood clotting disorders are a certain group of diseases that have various causes and the mechanism of formation. A characteristic feature that causes concern and is observed in the case of hemorrhagic diathesis, is the aforementioned haemorrhagic emergency, i.e. a tendency to prolonged spontaneous (e.g. heavy menstruation in women) or traumatic (e.g. gingival bleeding while brushing teeth) or after procedures medication (e.g. after intramuscular injection).
Blood clotting disorders – definition
Blood coagulation disorders are a condition characterized by problems with prolonged spontaneous bleeding, e.g. during heavy periods; after surgery or bleeding gums after brushing your teeth. The causes of this ailment are very different. The following are involved in the blood clotting process:
- platelets, or thrombocytes,
- blood vessel walls,
- plasma blood coagulation factors.
Due to the presence of physiological abnormalities in the above-mentioned factors, stopping bleeding may be disturbed. In addition, coagulation inhibitors play a role in blood clotting, and their task is to inhibit intravascular blood coagulation. For the proper functioning of the coagulation system, it is necessary to get each of the elements sick. In addition, there are two basic types of blood: haemorrhagic diathesis and ailments resulting from blood coagulation.
Types of blood coagulation disorders
Blood clotting disorders include:
- Hemorrhagic diathesis
- Thromboembolic disorders
Haemorrhagic diathesis should always be consulted with a doctor. It is therefore very helpful in determining the suspicion of a hemorrhagic diathesis and its type, therefore, observing and providing the doctor with the following information:
- Is the excessive bleeding tendency observed by the patient or by roommates from childhood, or only for some time?
- Are the ecchymoses, intramuscular hematomas, bruises or spontaneous, or did they appear after minor or major injuries?
- Are the observed symptoms of excessive haemorrhage limited to a certain area of the body or are they general in nature?
- Are blood clotting disorders only observed in a specific patient, or are they also seen in other family members, and if so, is there no gender-selective differentiation?
- Did the observed symptoms of excessive haemorrhage appear after some infectious disease?
- Has the hemorrhagic diathesis started to manifest itself after taking any preparations or after contact with any chemical solvents, varnishes, chemical preservatives or chemical plant protection?
- Have bruises and bleeding or other symptoms of excessive haemorrhage (e.g. hemoptysis, haematuria, tar stool, fus-like vomiting) started to appear in the course of chronic use of pharmacological drugs reducing blood clotting for therapeutic and prophylactic purposes?
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Causes and types of bleeding disorders
The cause of hemorrhagic diathesis is congenital or acquired blood clotting disorder, and hence an increased bleeding predisposition. As we know, blood is a liquid tissue. One of the conditions for the blood to not clot intravascularly under normal conditions (i.e. to maintain the balance of the haemostatic system) is the smoothness of the inner side of the vessel wall. Efficient functioning of two mechanisms, i.e. the system that maintains the fluidity of blood in the blood vessels (and thus allows its free flow and circulation) and the system that determines the ability of blood to clot (i.e. the ability to form a clot and stop bleeding at the point where the vessel wall is interrupted, and thus preventing excessive blood loss in the case of acute haemorrhage or its leakage from the vessels in the case of chronic oozing), is one of the main conditions for the proper functioning of the body.
Therefore, disease ailments accompanied by symptoms in the form of blood coagulation disorders are of significant clinical importance and a high risk for the body’s efficiency. Monitor your condition with the microINR blood clotting device available at a favorable price on Medonet Market.
Any primary or secondary abnormality in the physiological performance of any of these factors may impair the inhibition of bleeding, or haemorrhage, and contribute to the development of a variety of conditions known as bleeding disorders.
General classification of bleeding disorders:
- Platelet hemorrhagic diathesis, conditioned by a disturbance of hemostatic activity of platelets or their deficiency. Plaque defects are the most common cause of bleeding in humans. The reason for a lower platelet count can be, for example, excessive destruction of platelets as a drug reaction or after blood transfusions; disorders in platelet formation due to, for example, bone marrow dysplasia, lack of vitamin B12 and folate, or leukemia; excessive plaque build-up in peripheral organs. Another group of causes of coagulation disorders is the abnormal functioning of the platelets, which cannot fulfill their function despite the normal number of thrombocytes. It is related to a defect in the structure of receptors that allow the plates to properly adhere to the vessel walls. Platelet function can also be impaired by medications you take, especially over-the-counter medications containing acetylsalicylic acid and ibuprofen.
- Plasma hemorrhagic diatheses are the result of deficiencies in plasma coagulation factors. Plasma diathesis limited to a single factor is congenital, e.g. in haemophilia A or B. If more plasma factors are damaged – the cause may be secondary, e.g. liver disease, taking anticoagulants, vitamin K deficiency. is a neonatal haemorrhagic disease, which occurs due to vitamin K deficiency resulting from the liver being immature to produce clotting factors. For this reason, vitamin K supplementation is implemented in every newborn baby (immediately after birth). The most common congenital hemorrhagic diathesis is von Willeband’s disease. It consists of an abnormality in the protein of the same name, which is responsible for the proper adhesion of platelets to the vessel wall. If you want to take care of the proper level of vitamin K in your body, buy Vitamin D3 + K2 complex Terranova at Medonet Market.
- Vascular hemorrhagic diathesis arise as a result of abnormalities in the structure of the blood vessel walls, which do not allow for proper hemostasis in the body. Congenital blood vessel defects occur in the following diseases: Marfan, Ehlers-Danlos, Rendu-Osler-Weber and osteogenesis imperfecta. Moreover, hemorrhagic vasculitis may be the result of radiotherapy, taking glucocorticosteroids, systemic lupus erythematosus, vitamin C deficiency. In young children, post-infectious vasculitis (Henoch-Schonlein purpura) is very common, manifested by a hemorrhagic rash located around the buttocks and lower limbs. The rash may be accompanied by abdominal pain.
- mixed-type hemorrhagic diathesis.
The differentiation of bleeding disorders and the precise determination of their type (especially the link in which the defect is located) is neither simple nor easy. As the blood clotting process itself is very complex, the diagnostic process to accurately determine the deficiency or excess of one or another factor or impairment of its physiological performance is complex and time-consuming. Laboratory diagnostics requires considerable involvement and often cooperation of several laboratory laboratories. Therefore, in the case of a hemorrhagic diathesis, it is not always necessary to expect a quick, unambiguous diagnosis from the doctor, despite the obvious taking of the so-called symptomatic treatment.
Symptoms of blood coagulation disorders
The most characteristic symptoms of a blood clotting disorder are excessive bleeding:
- after a minor injury,
- after a tooth extraction,
- during menstruation,
- during surgery.
In addition, the ability to form clots is impaired and bleeding into the joint cavities occurs. Primary blood coagulation disorders show not only the symptoms of hemorrhagic diathesis, but also an enlarged spleen, longer bleeding time, and a large number of megakaryoblasts and megakaryocytes in the bone marrow. Patients with bleeding disorders tend to develop a large number of small petechiae on the skin and mucous membranes, but also larger interstitial hemorrhages into the brain or muscles. Internal haemorrhage into the gastrointestinal tract or external genital haemorrhage is also possible.
Diagnosis of blood coagulation disorders
An important role in establishing the diagnosis is the medical history with the patient, about past or existing diseases and medications taken. Patients reporting to the doctor should mention other additional symptoms, the length of individual bleeding episodes, the frequency of these episodes, and the accompanying condition prior to the occurrence of bleeding. After the doctor has obtained all the necessary information, further tests are ordered to:
- blood platelet count tests,
- examining APTT as well as TT and PT,
- fibrinogen concentration.
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Treatment of blood coagulation disorders
Symptomatic treatment of patients with blood coagulation disorders is carried out in the hospital. Then, they are administered, for example, fresh frozen plasma, the missing coagulation factors, preparations of isolated platelets. Each occurrence of bleeding is an indication for the patient to be transported to the hospital, after prior application of a pressure dressing and immobilization of the affected area of the body. In patients with significant blood loss, iron supplements are usually prescribed (it should be remembered that iron deficiency in the body causes anemia manifested by dizziness and weakness).
Blood transfusions may be required in some groups of patients. Then the lost blood is replaced with that obtained from a donor. It is important that the donor has the same blood group as the recipient to avoid undesirable complications. The transfusion can only be performed in a hospital! Another method of treatment may also be to transfuse fresh frozen plasma or administer the missing clotting factor to the patient.
In order to improve blood clotting processes, it is worth supplementing with vitamin K. We recommend, for example, Menachinox K2 200 – a preparation from Xenico Pharma, which is enough for a full month of supplementation.
Blood coagulation disorders and hypercoagulability
Hypercoagulability is also a condition associated with blood clotting problems. It is characterized by a tendency to the formation of blood clots in the blood vessels. This is a dangerous condition because the clots that form can travel to many organs and cause, for example, pulmonary embolism. The causes of thrombophilia may be inborn, related to the abnormalities of plasma coagulation inhibitors, which are responsible for the inhibition of intravascular coagulation. Another cause are systemic diseases, the consequence of which is hypercoagulability, including:
- nephrotic syndrome,
- antiphospholipid syndrome,
- tumor,
- exacerbation of chronic conditions.
Hypercoagulability may also occur in pregnant women; in women using hormonal contraception; in people who are immobilized for a long time after surgery; the operations performed also have an impact.
Symptoms of hypercoagulability are primarily thromboembolic events that affect the venous or arterial system.
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How to recognize?
In the diagnosis of hypercoagulability, clinical symptoms should be taken into account and laboratory tests should be performed:
- determination of coagulation inhibitors (determination of the concentration of individual proteins);
- determining the parameters of the coagulation system.
Genetic testing of the Leiden mutation can also be performed. You can find such diagnostics of blood hypercoagulability in a mail-order form at Medonet Market.
Anticoagulants are used in treatment and prophylaxis. Dr Jacob’s offers Vitamin K2 MK-7 – a dietary supplement in drops, which thanks to the composition of natural ingredients reduces the risk of blood coagulation disorders. You can buy vitamin K2 MK-7 today at a bargain price at medonetmarket.pl. Also try the supplement Vitamin K2 + D3 by SOLHERBS or Vitamin K2Mk-7 SOLHERBS, which are available in capsules with a completely natural composition.
Read more: When blood clots too much
What are the complications of blood clotting disorders?
Early treatment gives a good prognosis, while if it is implemented too late, it causes complications. The most common complications include:
- arthralgia,
- bleeding into joints
- bleeding in the brain
- bleeding into the intestines.
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